An online supportive music and imagery intervention to promote ICU nurses' stress management: Preliminary study

Nurses in intensive care units are subjected to high levels of work-related stress and must cope with psychological distress. This preliminary study explored the effects of an online supportive music and imagery intervention on these nurses' perceived stress, psychological distress, and sleep quality. A prospective pre-post design was employed to investigate the effectiveness of online supportive music and imagery interventions. The intervention comprised five weekly sessions, each lasting 50-60 min, which included verbal interactions and listening to music, and were facilitated by trained music therapists. Perceived stress and psychological distress were measured before and after the five-week program to investigate its effectiveness, and the current stress level and emotional state were measured before and after each session to explore changes over the intervention period. Sleep quality was measured weekly. In total, 29 participants completed the program. The results showed a significant decrease in perceived stress (d = 0.45, p = .045) and psychological distress (d = 0.53, p = .045) after the intervention. Regarding changes over the intervention period, the findings demonstrated a significant main effect of the number of sessions on perceived stress (p = 0.001), energy (p = 0.001), and tension (p = 0.023), whereas the effects on perceived valence and scores on the Korean version of the Insomnia Severity Index were not significant. Moreover, a significant post-session main effect was observed for all perceived stress and emotion ratings (p < 0.001). Online supportive music and imagery interventions may help reduce stress levels and enhance positive emotional states among nurses in intensive care units. Integrating self-work into supportive music imagery interventions may increase adherence to the intervention and extend its effect.